Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Spiced Plum Tart

I don't know why it is but for some reason Paalo just doesn't appreciate Plums. His excuse is that there are better fruit to eat so why waste time on plums. So while they appear as bit players in fruit salads and the like I thought it was time for them to shine on their own.

The plums I have here are Blood plums, one of my favourite varieties. I just love the colour, the texture and their taste. As these are more of a firm side, I decided poaching in a lightly spiced syrup would be in order to bring out their plummy best.

While the spiced poached plums will be perfect on their own I'll be using them in a tart and taking advantage on some great home made filo pastry that I source from a deli at Prahran market.

It's a lot thicker than the commercially made varieties and is sold in packets of large round sheets - an ideal shape for making traditional strudels. In this case the filo forms the pastry base of my tart that is topped with a simple semolina cream and then studded with the spiced plums.

Make the Spiced Plums:Place the sugar, water, cinnamon and vanilla into a large pan and over a medium heat, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes before adding the halved plums. Continue on a gentle simmer until the plums have just softened about 5-10 minutes - this will depend on the ripeness of the fruit. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the syrup.

Make the Semolina Cream:Place the milk, sugar and semolina into a pan and whisk over a gentle heat until the mixture is smooth. Keep stirring with a spoon until the mixtures thickens for another 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and whisk vigorously to knock out a bit of heat and then add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking well until they combined.

Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap - make sure the wrap rests against the semolina cream as this prevents it from forming a skin. Let it cool to room temperature.

Assemble the Tart:

Butter the tart tin and then line it with a sheet of filo - it doesn't have to be a perfect fit, in fact you want it to over hang the edges. Brush the sheet well with melted butter and give it a little sprinkle of caster sugar before adding another sheet. Repeat the process until you form a solid base - the number of sheets needed does depend on the thickness of the filo.

Pour in the semolina cream onto filo, smoothing the surface.

Now arrange the plum halves, cut side down - push them down just slightly into the semolina cream.

Sprinkle lightly with a little more caster sugar and then bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the cream is set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

While it may look decadent it is surprisingly light, helped in part by that crisp and delicate filo. The semolina cream wraps beautifully around each plum providing a luxurious base in which they can nestle and for the spiced flavours to carry through.

Dear cook! I discovered you only today and I have to say your photos look absolutely stunning:) How do you do it? are you a pro? and a wonderful cook? My compliments chef! I love philo, I love semolina and, a bit like your Paalo, don't bother with plums, but I love them baked, so this one is definately one for me to try. I'll be coming round here more often now :)